Mehsana district in North Gujarat goes to polls on 14 December, the second phase of Gujarat assembly elections.
Interestingly in 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Jivabhai Patel defeated Nitin Patel by 14511 votes.
In 2012, Nitin Patel had won with a victory margin of 24,205 votes.
Apart from the politically-dominant Patidars, Mehsana district, that has a population of around 20.35 lakhs, also has Kshatriyas, Muslims and Dalits.
If in the 2017 elections, Congress with the help of Patidars is able to reverse the 2012 results, it will definitely boost their strength against the BJP's dominance.